Barber&#39;s cloth



R. M. ANDERSON BARBERS CLOTH Dec. 23, 1958 Filed May 20, 1957 2,865,023BARBERS CLOTH Russell M; Anderson, Kansas City, Mo. Application May 20,1957, Serial No. 660,339

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-50) This invention relates to improvements in barberscloths involving both advantages in the utility of the cloth itself andin the easeand economy with which same can 7 be manufactured inquantity.

Conventional types of barber cloths are subject to a number of importantdisadvantages, including a susceptibility to weakening and tearing atthe neck-receiving notch thereof, a needless and wasteful provision ofan excessive and inconvenient bulk of material inthe lower portion ofthe cloth, and a failure to provide suitable means by which the cloth isadapted for egress and movement of the hands of a customer upon whom thecloth is emplaced.

As regards the first of these disadvantages, conventional barber clothsnormally are provided either with a rounded more or less semi-circularneck-receiving notch orwith what amounts essentially to just a straightslit. Both of such configurations have been found particularly liable toweakening with continued use and laundering'so that tearing of the clothat this zone thereof is common before the remainder of the cloth hasbeen subjected to a comparable degree of wear. Such tearing necessitateseither discarding of the cloth or unsightly attempts to 'patchthe same.With cloths having neck-receiving notches of uch conventionalconfigurations, it is also necessary that any material used forreinforcing the notch must be obtained from a source other than the boltof material out of which the cloth is cut.

Accordingly, it is the first important object of this invention toprovide barbers cloths having trapezoidal neckreceiving notches whichhave been'found both to possess an inherently greater resistance totearing than conventional forms of notches and which, when cut from thecloth, provide an adequate and convenient source of generally strip-likepieces of the same material which may be conveniently used in providinga reinforcing binding for the edges of the notch. I

'As regards the second disadvantage of conventional barber cloths, sameare normally provided with substan tially parallel side edges, merely byreason of the fact that same may then be cut successively from anelongated bolt of material. However, a barbers cloth properly should beof lesser width at the lower edge thereof than I the barbers cloth notonly provide an excessive bulk of ice material adjacent the customersknees which is inconvenient and irritating to him, but, perhaps evenmore importantly, such conventional construction involves an obvious andneedless waste ofmaterial which adds substantially to the cost of thecloths when same are manufactured in quantity. Accordingly, it is thesecond important object of this invention to provide barber clothswherein the width of the cloth adjacent the top thereof is substantiallygreater than the width of same adjacent the bottom thereof, and toaccomplish such end in fashion which is conveniently adaptable to thequantity manufacture of cloths from elongated bolts of material.

As regards the third disadvantage of conventional cloths, same arenormally straight along the side edges thereof, so that a customer inattempting to extend his hands from under the cloth or to move the sameis likely to protrude his arm from under the cloth, which tends tomaterially lessen the shielding effect for which the cloth is beingused. Accordingly, it is a third important obi ject of this invention toprovide wrist-receiving notches in each of the side edges of a barbercloth at the proper zone thereof, and particularly to provide saidnotches in a manner such that same may easily and conveniently be formedin the various cloths being manufactured from an elongated bolt ofmaterial at the same time that the cloth itself and the neck-receivingnotch thereof are being cut from the bolt.

Other important details of the invention, including significant detailsof construction, will be made clear or beof cloth material, illustratingthe manner in which one form of barbers cloths contemplated by theinvention, may be cut therefrom without wastage;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the barbers cloths of the kindshown in Fig. 2, illustrating the same in completed form and inoperative placement upon a 7 customer; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, plan view of a bolt or strip of cloth material,illustrating the manner in which a modified form of barbers clothscontemplated by the invention may be cut therefrom without wastage.

Referring first to Fig. 2, the numeral 10 illustrates an elongated boltof cloth from which a plurality of barbers cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc.may be cut and manufactured without the provision of any extraneousmaterials other than the thread to be used in sewing. As i will be clearfrom Fig. 2, the cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. are alternately oriented inopposite fashions :so that the bottom edges 20 and 22 of cloths 12 and16 respectively coincide with one edge 24 of the bolt 10, While thebottom edges 26 and 28 of cloths 14 and 18 coincide with the oppositeedge 36 of the bolt 10. Obviously, in similar fashion, the top edges 32and 34 of cloths 14 and 18 re spectively are disposed along the edge 24of bolt 10,

while the top edges 36 and 38 of cloths 12 and 16 are disposed along theedge 30 of bolt 10.

Since each of the cloths 12, 14, 16, 18, etc. is identical,

Patented Dec. 23, 1958 except for the mentioned reversal of orientationin which it is cut from the bolt 10, it will be sufficient to furtherdescribe only one of the cloths 14 in detail. The side edges of thecloth 14 are generally designated 40 and 42, and it will be seen thatsuch edges 40 and 42 include spaced, parallel, straight, coextensive,upper stretches 44 and 46, spaced, parallel, straight, coextensive,lower stretches 48 and 50 respectively, and spaced, straight,coextensive, intermediate stretches 52 and 54 respectively whichinterconnect the upper and lower stretches of the corresponding sideedges 40 and 42 and angularly converge toward each other as the lowerstretches 48 and 50 are approached since the parallel upper stretches 44and 46 are spaced apart at a substantially greater distance than theparallel lower stretches 48 and 50. It should be noted that by virtue ofthe reversal of orientation of the adjacent cloth 16, for instance, thesame cut in the bolt 18 that forms the upper stretch 46 of cloth 14 Willform the lower stretch 50 of cloth 16, the cut that forms the lowerstretch 50 of cloth 14 will form the upper stretch 46 of the cloth 16,etc.

A wrist-receiving notch 56 of substantially major, circular, sectorconfiguration is formed concavely of the side edge 40 at the zone ofjuncture of stretches 48 and 52 by being cut with the inner section ofsuch stretches 48 and 52 as the center of the arcuate notch 56, asimilar wristreceiving notch 58 being formed in analogous fashion at thezone of juncture between the stretches 50 and 54- of the side edge 42.It is significant that the middle of the width of the bolt substantiallybisects the intermediate stretches 52 and 54, so that the notches 56 and58 are disposed below the middle of the cloth 14. The manner in whichthe wrist-receiving notches are similarly formed in the adjacent clothswill be clear from Fig. 2.

A trapezoidal, neck-receiving notch 60 is cut concavely into the topedge 32 of cloth 14 intermediate the side edges 40 and 42 thereof, thelonger base of notch 6%) being disposed along the top edge 32 of thecloth 14 with the shorter base 62 of such notch 60 being parallel to andspaced inwardly from such top edge 32. At the same time that the notch66 is cut from the bolt 10, the material to be removed from the notch 60is cut along the solid lines indicated in Fig. 2 to provide a pair ofelongated strips 64 and 66 and a trapezoidal piece 68 having a foldableportion 70. A triangular piece 71 is also presented and normally will bediscarded. The dotted lines in the drawing illustrate lines of fold usedin forming the strips 64 and 66 and the trapezoidal piece 68 for properreinforcement of the two side edges 72 and 74 and the shorter base 62respectively of the neck-receiving notch 68.

Referring next to Fig. 1, the cloth 14 is shown with the reinforcingpieces 64, 66 and 68 sewn in place to reinforce the neck-receiving notch60. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the strips 64and 66 are initially sewn to the edges 72 and 74 as at 76 and 78 inreversed facing relationship and then are bent over to hide the seams 76and 78 and secured to the cloth 14 by longitudinal seams as at 80 and82. If desired, seams 76 and 78 may be externally oversewn as at 84 and86. The trapezoidal piece 68 has its bendable portion 78 bent downacross the lower base 62 of the notch 66 and is sewn to the cloth 14 asby seams 88 and 911. The lower extremities of the strips 64 and 66 aredoubled under and the outer corners of the piece 68 are folded under asindicated to provide a suitable fitting and overlapping relationshipbetween the reinforcing parts. It will be noted that strips 64 and 66are preferably folded under along their outer edges as at 2 and 94.

It will also be understood that the side edges 40 and 42 of the cloth 14are turned and hemmed, and that the top and bottom edges 26 and 32 areselvage edges and need not be hemmed but may, if desired, be hemmed byseams as indicated at 96 and 98 for the top edge 32.

Referring next to Fig. 3, a customer generally designated 100 is seenseated in a barber chair 102 with the cloth 14 in operative placementupon him. It will be observed that the neck-receiving notch 60, byvirtue of its trapezoidal configuration, neatly but snugly fits aboutthe neck of the customer 108 so that the upper portions of the cloth 14on the opposite sides of the notch may be neatly drawn over theshoulders of the customer and pinned or otherwise temporarily fastenedtogether behind his back. The manner in which the configuration of theside edge 42 effectively shields the clothing of the customer 180 fromhair without unduly restraining him or preventing use of his bands willalso be clear from Fig. 3.

Referring next to Fig. 4, wherein a modified form of cloth isillustrated, the bolt is generally designated 110 and a number of clothsto be cut from the bolt 110 in continuous side-by-side relationship areindicated by the numerals 112, 114, 116 and 118. Each of such cloths112, 114, 116 and 118 is provided with a neck-receiving notch 160 in thesame manner as above described for the notches 60 formed in cloth 14.The difference between the cloths 112, 114, 116 and 118 and the cloths12, 14, 16 and 18 are that the former are of trapezoidal configurationhaving straight side edges and 142 which substantially converge as thelower extremity of the cloth is approached. Although this form of theinvention is not preferred to the extent of the one illustrated anddescribed in connection with Figs. 2 and 3, it nevertheless possessesmany advantages in common with the latter over barbers cloths as nowconventionally made. It will be noted that the trapezoidal configurationof the cloth 114 provides some saving of material as compared withconventional constructions, while still permitting a plurality of clothsto be formed from a bolt 110 without wastage. Manifestly, theneck-receiving notches are formed and reinforced in the same way as thenotches 60, so as to possess the advantages in that respect referred toabove. Similarly, substantially semi-circular wrist-receiving notches156 and 158 will preferably be formed in the side edges 140 and 142respectively below the middle of the cloth 114. E

It will now be apparent that the invention is ideally adapted foreliminating all of the above discussed disadvantages of conventionalbarber cloths and of achieving the various advantages over the latterabove enumerated. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat certain minor modifications and changes could be made from a numberof the details of construction disclosed for the purpose of illustratinga preferred embodiment of the invention.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention shall be deemedas limited only by the scope of the claims that follow.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A barber cloth comprising a sheet of flexible material provided witha straight top edge medially interrupted by an isosceles trapezoidal,neck-receiving notch extending into the sheet and having its longer basedisposed in alignment with said top edge, a pair of side edges eachincluding a straight upper stretch perpendicular to the top edge, astraight intermediate stretch angled inwardly and downwardly at an acuteangle from the lower extremity of the corresponding upper stretch and astraight lower stretch extending downwardly along a line perpendicularto said top edge from the lower extremity of the correspondingintermediate stretch, and a bottom edge parallel to and substantiallyshorter than said top edge, said upper and lower stretches being ofsubstantially equal lengths, said intermediate stretches being shorterthan said upper and said lower stretches, there being a substantiallycircularly arcuate wrist-receiving notch extending into the sheet at thezone of juncture of each intermediate stretch and its correspondinglower stretch.

2. A barber cloth comprising a sheet of flexible material provided witha straight top edge, a pair of side edges each including a straightupper stretch perpendicular to 5 the top edge, an intermediate stretchextending inwardly at an angle from the lower extremity of thecorresponding upper stretch and a straight lower stretch extendingdownwardly along a line perpendicularv to said top edge from the lowerextremity of the corresponding intermediate stretch, and a bottom edgeparallel to and substantially shorter than said top edge, saidintermediate stretches being shorter than said upper stretches, the topedge being medianly interrupted by an isosceles trapezoidal,neck-receiving notch extending into the sheet and having its longer basedisposed in alignment with said top edge, and there being awrist-receiving cutout extending into the sheet from a point above thejuncture of said intermediate and lower stretches to a point below saidjuncture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

